However, truckers, local farmers and businesses said that despite the pledge they will go ahead with a planned operation to block the A16 motorway to and from the Channel port and Eurotunnel site on Monday.

“It would be better if they put off their trip as I can guarantee it will be a black day in terms of travel. The truckers will set of two convoys from Boulogne and Dunkirk and then block Calais. Everything will be stuck,” said a local police source.

It has been just over a week since my return from Lesvos and I am still trying to process all that I learned and witnessed during my short stay helping out as a volunteer nurse. The situation has not changed with the changing temperatures and political climate. Refugees in the thousands are still making that perilous trip across choppy waters from Turkey to Greece in the hope of making a new life in Europe. The political situation has changed somewhat. The EU is no long registering N. Africans, Iranians and Asians as they once were, creating a backlog of innocent and frustrated migrants on the island and elsewhere in Greece. Today, only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans are allowed to pass through Greece and on towards other European countries. Whereas these are bona fide refugees, many have come without documents to prove their countries of origin, and although they may be Hazara from Afghanistan their language is Farsi, so they can easily be labeled as Iranians and not allowed to continue their voyage. There are very few translators in the camps who can help the local police with the registration process, so people are mislabeled, told they must be held until they can be deported and given only the necessities that volunteers can provide while they wait.

I had the privilege of working with the ragtag group of volunteers who came to help out on “Afghan hill” or Moria camp, where everyone but Syrians were directed to wait, sometimes for as much as 5 days, until they could be properly processed. The clinic where we were working was well-run and professional. We saw hundreds of refugees a day, some still soaked through from their trips on the rubber boats, many with severe anxiety reactions, sore throats, viruses or just in need of a little bit of concerned care. We had some translators, but they were few and often we relied on hand gestures to ascertain what the medical problem was. Often we could find a refugee who spoke that language as well as English. The refugees were all very happy to help us out. I saw too many grown men weep when they tried to explain their trip while pulling out photos of loved ones lost. I have no idea if those loved ones died during the trip or in their place of origin, but the memories of the sad parents or spouses of all those happy faces in the photos will haunt me forever. There were children too traumatized to speak or to take a piece of candy that was offered. There were elderly people as well. Many had come with their families, some alone as couples. Once they were changed into dry clothing and given food, we were left trying to find a shelter for them and other vulnerable groups for the night. The shelters (small camping tents)were few, so many were left to wait out the night next to a burning pile of plastic or the few branches that they could find. Whereas the official “Syrian camp” was adjacent to ours (a walled compound manned by police), we did not mix. If there was a more critical medical case, we brought those patients in wheelchairs (not an easy feat up the rutted grassless terrain) to be seen by Medecins san Frontiers or Medecins du Monde, which provided care in that gated and barb wired camp. UNHCR was a presence there in the Syrian camp as well. I can’t say more than that. There were two representatives in their tent and they were not seen at the shorelines where people were disembarking or swimming to the shore. They did provide the many buses, which brought the newcomers to the camps each day.

I want to thank you all for your donations, kind thoughts and prayers, but most of all, I want to thank you for not forgetting about this tragedy that is unfolding. These people need our help, not our derision. They are mostly innocent victims of bad political decisions. They represent all of us in some way or another.

I hope that this holiday season brings joy and peace to all of you and that the New Year can be one of hope for a better future for everyone. Thank you again for your support.

Seems Umbria offers higher standards of services: also a web site unfortunately only in Italian. Here an Abstract

“Despite the 2008 economic crisis and the increase in emigration flows, immigration to Italy has continued, albeit to a lesser extent than in previous years. In 2013 immigrants stood at 7.4% of the country population. Nevertheless, immigration is still considered a problem, even an emergency: political and public attention is often focused on illegal migration, whereas a well-structured integration policy discourse is nowhere to be seen. This paper offers an insight into this issue, giving an overview on integration policies in Italy: which social actors are involved in the formulation and implementation of these policies, and how the issue is discussed in public and political discourses. Mapping the main policy tools and social actors in migrant integration, the paper highlights how Italian integration policies are mostly concentrated on economic integration, whereas social and cultural policies remain marginal. The paper also shows that a gap between policies and practices may occur, due to failed or absent policies, which is largely compensated for by the intervention of non-state actors.”

Like this:

Perugia, October 29 014 -Umbria is one of the Italian regions with the highest incidence of immigrants (+ 8.1% compared to the national average and 11.1% of the residents), mainly women (56%). But the region lies with a higher than the national average even for newborns (15.1%, 19.6% of births) and the presence of foreign students (almost 14,000 students, 14% of the total ), of which about 55% were born in Italy (the national average is 51.7%). Lower than the national average is instead given the Umbrian regarding the acquisition of Italian citizenship. And ‘what emerges from the “Statistical Report on Immigration 2014” in the chapter on Umbria, edited by Bigi and Francescaglia. The dossier, sponsored by the National Office Against Racial Discrimination, refers to 2013. Last year – according to the Report – foreigners living in Umbria were 99,922, of which 76,861 in the province of Perugia (which represent 11.6% of the local population) and 23,061 in the province of Terni (10.0%). Non-EU citizens residing legally is 68,715, of which 41,115 have allowed a long period (there were 37,845 at the end of 2012), while the rest has a permit to expire. Faced with a numerical presence of residents remained almost stable between 2012 and 2013, the proportion of domestic permits expire (decreased by about 3,000 units a year) and long-term permits (increased by almost 3,300) has changed considerably favor of the latter. This is explained on the one hand with the economic crisis has dampened growth of the flows, as confirmed by the decrease in the number of permits issued for the first time during the year (only in the province of Perugia’s been – according to data from the police headquarters – from 21,178 in 2012 to 19,650 in 2013, with a particular decrease of those for work: from about 15 thousand to just under 11,000), and the other with the search for a stabilization for himself and his family, as also indicates number of family reunification (13,300). Among the non-EU nationality represented more priority needs still Albania (16,209), followed by Morocco (10 928) and Ukraine (5,154). Among the EU, with about 23,113 residents, is Romania that confirmed its first place Umbria recording a new annual increase (they were 21,051 in 2012) after the peak reached in 2011 (24,321).
About 7,375 newborns in Umbria in 2013, while foreign (1,444, of which 1,156 in the province of Perugia and 288 in the province of Terni) accounted for 19.6% of the total with a figure above the national average (15.1% ). Are, finally, the acquisition of Italian citizenship 1,518 (1,174 in Perugia and 344 in Terni), averaging 15.8 per 1,000 foreign residents (the national average is 21.6 per thousand).
Over time, the socio-economic characteristics of the region have made Umbria very attractive for migrants, but with the economic crisis, the labor market has changed in Umbria, especially hard hit the component of male workforce (both Italian and foreign) . In 2013 new hires were down for immigrants (-1.3%) as they recovered slightly to Italians (0.7%) and unemployment is also increased more for foreigners than for natives (the rate of immigrants stood at 20.7%, nearly 12 points higher than that of Italian, 8.5%), so that foreigners now account for nearly a third of the unemployed. In 2013, for those born abroad, the balance between hiring and termination of employment was negative (surplus of discontinued) to 2,942 units, with the exception of the agricultural sector, with a particularly steep decline for the industry (-6 , 4%). Unlike the male presence of foreign women workers has continued to grow and, unlike a few years ago, in 2012 was much higher (17.1%) than men (11.8%). In Umbria, 12.2% of foreign-born is active in agriculture (against an overall average of 2.9%) and 35% in industry (28%), while “only” 48.2% in the tertiary (69.1%). The foreign workers for 57.5% are employed in community services and personal services, to 30% in the hotel business and catering. Among men over a third (33.6%) work in construction, 24.1% in agriculture and a fifth in the tourist-hotel sector.

As many as 71% of foreign-born workers are employed in micro businesses (1-9 employees), 47% in unskilled occupations (as in growth compared to the past), with lower wages on average by 30% compared to the Italians and monthly salaries that, as a result of the crisis, they have fallen more than those of the Italians (-8.4 percentage points versus -6.2).
Among the 15 most numerous nationalities of Umbria, the Chinese have the highest employment rate (68%); a rate still above 50% is held by the Tunisian authorities, Romanian, Macedonian, Moldovan and Indian, while a rate below 40% characterizes the Moroccan community, Ecuador and Nigeria.
Umbria firms immigrants are 7.8% of the total (national average 8.2%), with a positive balance between those initiated and closed during the year (+271 units, or + 3.3%; the the national average is 4.1%) and in contrast with the Italian companies (-1.4%), mainly in construction (31%) and trade (30%). Holders of individual firms (representing 80.4% of all those immigrants) come mostly from Morocco, Romania, Albania and China. And ‘the Romanian community to have sent more remittances to their country (21.6 million euro, 32.9% of the total amount left for other countries from the region: 65.7 million euro), followed by Moroccans ( 4.3 million), Albania (3.5 million), Ecuador (3 million).
With regard to the students of foreign origin, who in Umbria an incidence greater than 9.0% of the national average, the data confirm the strong presence of the second generation, with peak incidence in the nursery and primary schools (a trend confirmed in the last 4 years). Especially foreign students 3,645 are in pre-school (where they account for 15.3%, of which 89% were born in Italy); 5,781 in the primary (incidence of 14.8% to 71.1% were born in Italy); 3,637 in the secondary level (15.5%, of which 41.0% was born in Italy and 4,278 in the secondary level (11.6% to 15.6% were born in Italy). As for the address chosen in high school: 24.8% attended a high school (since an increase compared to previous years, which amounted to 34.8% in the province of Terni, against a national average of 20.4%), while the the vast majority has been moving towards a vocational school (36.6%, with a peak of 37.5% in the province of Perugia) or technical. The foreign students from Europe (10,575) account for 61.0% of the total and including stand Albanians (3,877), Romanians (3,609) and Macedonian (967). The Africans (3,884), mainly from Morocco (2447), Tunisia (281) and Algeria, accounting for 22.4% of the total, from the American 9% and Asia 7.5% of the total.

A third of migrants received in Italy, excluding minors, is distributed in two regions: Sicily and Lazio, which host respectively 22% and 12% of the 73,883 total. The Veneto, however, is among the major regions of the North hosting fewer people, with 4%, while those with less migrants is the Valle d’Aosta, which is home to only 62, 0%.

The percentage is calculated based on the relationship between immigrants and population. The data is updated to May 6 and is contained in a table of the Interior Ministry where there is a breakdown by region of migrants in Cara centers for asylum seekers, in Sprar, the reception system for refugees, and temporary structures .

Inpartnershipwithfamily-ownedfarmsin the nature reserveof LakeTrasimeno, we hope to restoreandgive back totheproductionmultitude ofabandonedolive treesin the area.By doing this,we will try togive a newlifeto the production ofcrafts, the local economy, heritage and landscape.